Longzang

Chapter 1089 Beyond Cause and Effect
After many years, Wei Yuan once again stepped into Guantun County.

During the last withdrawal, Wei Yuan specifically ordered the destruction of all buildings in Guantun County. Now, several years later, the ruins are overgrown with shrubs and weeds, and countless small grasses are growing from the cracks in the roads that were originally paved with gravel and cement.

Wei Yuan was also amazed by the tenacity of nature's creatures.

In Wei Yuan's vision, there were specks of colorful light floating among the ruins, the marks left by the immortals. Cangwu was letting Wei Yuan know in this way that he had seen every corner of Guantun County.

After Wei Yuan withdrew from Guantun County, the State of Ji did not send troops to garrison it. The once extremely prosperous county town was abandoned and became a paradise for wild beasts and weeds once again.

Wei Yuan arrived at the center of the county town. What used to be a seven-story building was now only half of it. In the center of the basement area, there was a huge pit where a pack of hyenas had made their den.

Wei Yuan flicked his finger, and more than ten points of luck flew out, giving each hyena a little bit of blessing.

The hyenas seemed to gain a little sentience in an instant. They whimpered a few times at Wei Yuan, prostrated themselves in gratitude, and then left in a pack, running into the vast wilderness and free world.

Wei Yuan unleashed a blast of Great Sun True Fire beneath his feet, reducing all the ruins to nothingness, leaving only a deep crater in the ground.

Wei Yuan then took out a boundary stone and planted it in the ground. This boundary stone was originally the boundary stone of Guantun County. Wei Yuan took it away when he left that day, and now it has finally been placed back in its original place.

With just one release and one take-out, most of the centuries of nurturing have been lost, and everything has to start from scratch.

By this time, Qingming's vanguard had crossed the Xianghan border and entered the heart of the Ji Kingdom. After traversing another uninhabited area, they would enter the densely populated and prosperous region of the Ji Kingdom.

Each of the army commanders carried a boundary stone, which they planted according to the previously surveyed terrain, thus re-planning the county distribution within the Xianghan Prefecture.

This re-alignment of the boundary stones was again led by Master Chuhe, with disciples of the Jianmu Hall serving as the main surveyors and implementers. Just like the southern prefectures of the Western Jin Dynasty, the potential of the Xiang and Han prefectures will be greatly enhanced after the boundary stones are rearranged, and they will become the most prosperous regions in the entire Ji Kingdom in the future.

This act is of great merit to humanity, and therefore the disciples of the Jianmu Hall all benefit greatly. The path of the Jianmu Hall is unique, inherently containing elements of achieving sainthood through merit, making it most suitable for this kind of work.

However, in the orthodox Jianmu Temple lineage, the proportion of those who achieve sainthood through merit is only about 20-30%, with the remainder being based on offense, defense, combat, and various supernatural powers and techniques. Chuhe is the only one who achieved sainthood entirely through merit.

The Azure Nether Army reset the boundary stones, eventually placing thirty-six boundary stones in the Xiang and Han prefectures, with eighteen counties in each prefecture, half the original sixty-nine counties.

However, apart from some towering mountains unsuitable for human habitation, the rest of the two prefectures are covered by boundary stones. Moreover, all thirty-six boundary stones have been reforged and have become a complete set of magical treasures. Once placed, they are interconnected and form a large array covering the two prefectures, which can gather the primordial energy of heaven and earth and slowly improve the fortune of the human race.

By setting down these boundary stones, Wei Yuan had clearly stated his attitude: he was determined to obtain the two prefectures of Xiang and Han, and no amount of effort from anyone else could change that.

……

Above the celestial heavens, Cangwu stood before the Venerable Lord, and all he could see was a single finger that connected the earth to the sky.

The Venerable Lord's voice rang directly in his consciousness, gentle and pleasant: "So, you were deceived by Wei Yuan? On the eve of the World Refining Array being set up, he sent troops to occupy the designated location, and then you were helpless?"

The Lord showed no blame or anger, but instead acted as gently as an older brother. However, Cangwu's body began to tremble and shudder noticeably, and even his immortal form began to show signs of becoming uncontrollable.

Countless minute streams of ice began to seep into his body, exploring every corner. Cangwu knew that if he uttered even a single wrong word or gave an answer that failed to satisfy the Lord, he would be instantly torn apart and devoured by these ice streams, returning to chaos.

The new Liu Miao is about to be reborn, and he is no longer indispensable.

Cangwu said, "I don't know what happened. I suddenly believed the peace treaty that Wei Yuan signed, and I've never doubted it since. After all, it was a peace treaty based on a blood oath. And I don't know how he knew when the Refining World Array would be re-established. I didn't tell any of my disciples. Only Prince Ji... Prince Ji!"

It was as if a thin veil had been lifted from Cangwu's mind, and he suddenly became much clearer!
A thought flashed through his mind, and he immediately realized the problem lay with Prince Ji. But he had clearly told Prince Ji that rebuilding the grand formation would take five years, so why had he completely forgotten about it, without even considering the possibility of problems on Prince Ji's side? Had he been so foolish and incompetent? And when had Prince Ji leaked the information?

With a thought from the immortal, countless things unfolded in an instant. In just a few breaths, Cangwu found the problem from countless fragments of the past five years: the day Prince Ji invited Sun Chaoen to enjoy Xu Shang's dance. Cangwu had seen Xu Shang countless times and instinctively felt a deep disgust for this woman, as if she were rotting flesh. Women in the deep palace were generally more promiscuous than those in brothels.

As an immortal, Cangwu had always cherished purity and nobility, and naturally disapproved of the debauchery in the Ji King's palace. In his divine sense, although the women in the harem were all beautiful, they all reeked of a strong, foul stench that made one want to vomit.

So when Sun Chaoen removed his clothes, revealing his fair but imperfect flesh, Cangwu couldn't bear to look. He shifted his divine sense away for a while until the wind and rain in the room stopped, then he moved it back. What he saw then was two men who looked like dead pigs and a woman who was full of energy, which almost made him vomit on the spot.

Over the past five years, there have only been a handful of times when Cangwu's consciousness went blank regarding Prince Ji, and all of those times were on similar occasions. Afterwards, Prince Ji enjoyed several song and dance performances with Sun Chaoen, so Cangwu assumed that this was simply a hobby of Prince Ji and had no other suspicions.

Looking back now, I immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

The Venerable One remained silent for a moment, seemingly calculating something. After a long while, he said, "This isn't entirely your fault. A master intervened, not only concealing the secrets of heaven but also secretly reversing the flow of fortune and adjusting your surroundings to your most comfortable position. Just like a mortal who has eaten and drunk their fill and is under the warm spring sun, all they want to do is sleep soundly. That's why you lost your vigilance and caution."

Wei Yuan is an unparalleled tyrant; as long as it benefits him, breaking promises and contracts is as easy as eating and drinking, let alone something as trivial as avoiding a blood oath. "You can evade karma, how can he not evade an oath?"

After hearing the Venerable One's explanation, Cangwu broke out in a cold sweat again and said, "What kind of master can manipulate the secrets of heaven and fate?"

The Venerable One sighed, "This person made his move when Liu Miao fell, causing Liu Miao to be burdened by karma and suffer a fatal blow from Wei Yuan's luck-based attack, which led to his demise. I was also puzzled at the time, but no matter how I investigated afterwards, I could not find any clues. I could only attribute Liu Miao's death to bad luck."

But this time, with your matter again, I see something is amiss. That person left no trace, and that's the biggest trace. It's his frequent actions lately that have caused me so much trouble. I understand now; he must be completely untouched by cause and effect, outside of time and fate, beyond calculation. To this world, this person simply doesn't exist; he's probably just a figment of our imagination.”

"What should we do?" Cangwu asked instinctively. Although he was an immortal, he had never heard of such a person in the world. He wasn't even involved in karma; who could possibly harm him?

The Venerable One said calmly, "There's no need to worry. To avoid being entangled in karma, he must have paid a huge price, so his actions will definitely be heavily restricted. Moreover, the more he acts, the more he will return to the world, and then I will be able to catch him."

Cangwu nodded, but his worries did not lessen.

The Lord saw through his thoughts and said, "Although my injuries are difficult to recover from, the situation has changed, and we have gained strong reinforcements. The overall situation is not a concern."

Cangwu was finally relieved.

……

Deep within the Pure Land, an old monk and a young monk were walking. They walked for an unknown amount of time when suddenly the scenery before them changed, and a sacred mountain appeared, higher and more distant than heaven and earth.

There are countless lotus seats on Mount Ling, and on each lotus seat is a Buddha statue, some with lowered eyes and bowed heads, some seemingly enlightened, and some smiling with a flower in hand, each with a different expression.

A Buddha sits atop the mountain, relaxed and gazing into the past and future. He is not larger than other Buddha statues, yet it seems as if the entire universe resides within his heart.

At this moment, a twilight glow appeared on the horizon, the bells on the mountain eaves rang softly, the evening bells echoed, the mountain moon rose, and all sounds gradually subsided.

The young monk was greatly shocked. He turned to look at the old monk and asked in a trembling voice, "Master, is that... Mount Ling?"

The old monk remained silent. When the young monk looked over in surprise, he saw that the old monk was already in tears.

(End of this chapter)